Identification of genetic regions associated with sex determination in date palm: A computational approach

Sex determination of date palm seedlings is the challengeable effort for breeders. Different studies based on molecular markers and genome sequencing have provided some insight in to the genetic regions related to sex determination in date palms in general. But due to differences in cultivar population structure and also cost of whole genome sequencing, we may need a more suitable approach in developing countries for this task. Therefore, we suggest using a combination of different available molecular markers and a computational approach to identify the genetic regions involved in sex differentiation in date palm cultivars. In this study we used twenty-three cultivars including 7 male and 16 female cultivars that were examined by 30 different dominant and co-dominant molecular markers which deal with different genomic regions. Grouping of the tree samples based on 178 loci resulted in genetic differentiation of the studied male and female palm trees. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) bi-plot also showed genetic difference within male and female trees. Heatmap plot specified those markers which differentiate date palm trees. SSR (simple sequence repeats) and IRAP (inter retrotransposon amplified polymorphism) markers provided sex linked markers for male cultivars. In present study, we introduced sex specific alleles for Iranian male date palm cultivars as a fast track in seedlings. Different association studies performed identified the candidate genetic regions which are significantly associated with sex differentiation in date palm cultivars.